


Bow

by MachineQueen



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 10:03:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13785162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineQueen/pseuds/MachineQueen
Summary: Niles gives Subaki an archery lesson. Subaki enjoys it more than he expects.





	Bow

Subaki should have been in good spirits. His promotion had been a long time coming and he’d been itching for a new challenge. Though he was sad to say goodbye to his pegasus, his new partner was equally gorgeous. The kinshi was a splendid, feathered creature that would allow him to fight both faster and fiercer. He could already tell the two of them would make a formidable team and couldn’t wait to ride her into battle for the first time.

But the promotion meant that both Lady Sakura and Lady Corrin would be watching, making sure his skills were up to par. He had to make sure he was more perfect than ever, particularly as Lady Corrin had also gifted him with a new weapon. He had masked his apprehension with a gentle smile as he accepted the bow from her. It was light, lighter than he was accustomed to. It was a simple thing with little decoration and part of him mourned the ornate pike he had used as a sky knight. That had been a thing of beauty, a thing that shone. But times had changed and now resources were stretched between a combined army of Nohrians and Hoshidans. Subaki smiled again and proclaimed the bow a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

“I’m glad you think so,” said Lady Corrin. “Flying units are becoming a serious problem. There’s too many for just Takumi to handle. He could use the backup.”

“But there are more archers in our army than just Lord Takumi,” pointed out Subaki. 

“Yes, but none as reliable,” said Lady Corrin. “Our other two archers are...antisocial, to say the least.” Her usually sweet expression soured. Subaki knew that look- it was the look any sane person wore after trying to converse with Setsuna or Niles. 

With Setsuna, you might as well be talking to yourself. And Niles was dedicated to being as unhelpful as possible, unless your name was Lord Leo. This was something Subaki knew from bitter experience. It didn’t help that Niles seemed to bear a special hatred just for him, even though Subaki couldn’t recall doing anything in particular to warrant such scorn. 

Perhaps Lady Corrin was in the same boat. 

If that was the situation, then Subaki had no other choice than to bring a little of his patented perfection to the army’s archery divisions. 

XxX

The bow stretched tight as Subaki fired another shot. He missed the bull’s eye, hitting just to the right. Grinding his teeth in frustration, he tried again. This time, the arrow went to the left. Subaki examined the bow, trying to see if the problem was a kink in its design rather than the inferiority of his marksmanship. He found nothing off with it. The bamboo curved in a perfect arc and the string was taut. So why couldn’t he hit the bull’s eye? 

Subaki had been at the makeshift camp shooting range for a while and was having limited success. Try as he might to cast his mind back, it had been a while since he’d practiced archery. Either way, he’d made his mind up. He wasn’t leaving until he’d scored five perfect shots. He picked up an arrow to make another attempt and tried not to think of all the other duties he could have been completing had he not needed to become adept with the bow. This wouldn’t be happening if Setsuna and Niles actually pulled their weight in battle...

“Having trouble, Mr Perfect?”

Think of the devil and he shall come. Subaki flinched and swung the bow around, trying to locate where Niles’ drawl had come from. He became even more irritated when he couldn’t immediately spot the source of the interruption. Before the irritation could give way to panic, Niles slithered out of the sunset shadows, flashing a grin that made him shiver. Subaki didn’t lower the bow.

“My, my. Feeling defensive, are we?” Niles seemed amused. His bow was slung over his back, so maybe he’d just come to practice. Either way, Subaki wouldn’t put it past the Nohrian to try a sneak attack.

“Forgive me if I don’t trust the man who tried to stab me in the back,” said Subaki.

“If I actually wanted to stab you, I’d have done it already.”

“Is that supposed to be reassuring?”

“Yes. And even if you loosed that arrow, we both know it wouldn’t hit me.”

Subaki growled, a most imperfect sound, and turned the bow back to the target. The arrow missed, not even having the decency to save him from further humiliation.

Niles smirked at him. He was no doubt about to make some other caustic comment before Subaki cut him off. “Fine. Laugh. But Lady Corrin only asked me to become an archer due to your shortcomings,” he said. 

“What shortcomings?” asked Niles. His stance stiffened, becoming something akin to a coiled snake and his expression darkened. Subaki realised that up until now, Niles had been in a relatively playful mood. Subaki briefly considered making a run for it but his pride kept his legs locked firmly in place. Running from confrontation now would just make him look a despicable coward.

“Lady Corrin said you’re unreliable.”

“Oh, is that all?” Niles shrugged, and the dark expression was gone in a blink.

“Don’t you even care?” asked Subaki, taken aback by the sudden change in the other man’s demeanour. 

“She just means I don’t always follow orders to the letter. I dare to think for myself,” said Niles. “Do you want to know what I’m thinking right now?”

“No. I’d rather not hear about how you’d like to run me through,” said Subaki.

“A pity,” said Niles. “But actually not what I was thinking. I was thinking about an archery lesson.”

It took a moment for the words to sink in. When they did, Subaki’s first instinct was to be offended. Then again, when it came to Niles it sometimes that felt like that was his only instinct. 

“I don’t need lessons!” 

“Sixteen misses says otherwise,” said Niles, pointing at the target. “I promise to be on my best behaviour.”

Niles took a shot at the target with his own bow. He hit it dead on and then smirked in the face of Subaki’s glare. There was nothing Subaki could do to dispute the fact that he was the one with the superior skill. It was maddening. 

“Even someone as wretched as me can make the perfect shot,” said Niles. 

Subaki wasn’t an idiot. He knew that Niles was never on his best behaviour and there had to be another angle to this. But.Subaki couldn’t help it: he was curious. Besides, he was going to be here all night anyway. He may as well try whatever method Niles wanted to show him. 

XxX

“Is this really necessary?” asked Subaki.

Niles stood close behind him, close enough that his warmth shielded Subaki from the cool evening air. Subaki was a little taller than Niles and now he could keenly feel the difference in height. Common sense told him that having his back to Niles was a bad idea but insisting otherwise made it too obvious that he was still on the defensive.

“Your stance is wrong. This is so I can help you get it right,” said Niles. His breath tickled Subaki’s ear and the hairs on the back of his neck. Even though Niles wasn't flirting, it felt intimate. Subaki was about to extract himself with a flippant comment when Niles husked in his ear,“You want to be perfect, don’t you?”

Subaki stayed where he was. Yes, in pursuit of perfection, he’d even put up with Niles. 

Niles nudged at him with his hands and feet, surprisingly gently, until Subaki moved where directed. Niles had Subaki place most of his weight on his back foot before directing him to stand straight and tall. Niles definitely didn’t need to run his hands up Subaki’s torso to facilitate this but Subaki had given up on protesting. Besides, it was nice to have some attention and maybe even enjoyable. Niles was much more bearable when he was flirting instead of threatening.

“Put your hands here.”

Subaki could feel the calluses on Niles’ palms as he moved his own into place. He could tell from their shape that the lines had been formed by using a bow. Perhaps Niles worked harder than Subaki gave him credit for. It shouldn’t have been surprising for a royal retainer, but Subaki was surprised anyway. They were more similar than he’d expected - they both wanted their skill to appear effortless when really it was the opposite. He had to admit that Niles was much better at keeping it secret than he was though. 

“Your grip is too tight,” said Niles, running a palm over Subaki’s fingers, which were clenched over the bamboo. “It easily skews a bow like this.”

Wordlessly, Subaki loosened his grip. 

“You need to line the arrow up with your chin,” said Niles, his attention moving to Subaki’s other hand.”Then bring your elbow back.”

Again, Subaki followed his directions. 

“The only part of you that needs to move is your arms and your head,” said Niles. His hand skimmed Subaki’s waist, as if daring him to move. “Now shoot.”

The shot didn’t hit the bull’s eye but it was much closer than before. Much better. The stretch in Subaki’s shoulders felt better too, more satisfying. Niles, close behind him, was also admiring the shot. Subaki had to admit that he was a good teacher. Even if his methods were a little...hands on. 

“What do you get out of this, again?” asked Subaki. 

“Your undivided attention, of course,” said Niles. “This seems to be an improvement on threatening to stab you.”

“Well. There are better ways to get someone’s attention.”

“Better than stabbing? I doubt that.”

“You could try being nice.”

“If you’re ‘nice’ in Nohr, you won’t last very long.”

Subaki turned to face Niles, to see if the regret he’d heard in his words matched anything on his face. It didn’t. Maybe that was the most dangerous thing about Niles. You never knew where you were with him. 

“Show me again.” said Subaki, reaching for another arrow.

XxX

They completed the shooting exercise thrice more. Each time, Niles’ touch felt sweeter until Subaki found himself craving it. He leaned into it, learning when Niles would touch his back, his shoulders, his hands and flushed when Niles brushed his hair back from his face. It was hard to believe that someone who usually spoke so roughly could touch so gently.

On the third try, Subaki shot the bull’s eye. He lowered the bow. “One down. Four to go.”

“Four to go?” Niles said, raising an eyebrow. “How long do you intend to be here, exactly?”

“All night if I have to.”

“How dull. I was hoping to move on to far more interesting activities.”

“I bet you were.” 

“Interesting. That’s not a ‘no’.”

Subaki grinned slyly. “It would be terribly cold not to give you some form of thanks after you’ve taken time out of your busy schedule to tutor me.”

Then Subaki pressed a kiss to Niles’ shocked mouth. It was a simple thing, maybe even chaste. Niles’ lips were soft and his hands went to Subaki’s waist so he could return the kiss in kind. Subaki knew what he’d just done was dangerous and would come back to hurt him but that made it all the more thrilling. There was something attractive about Niles’ plain, open desire, even if it was just Subaki’s body he was interested in.

“Four more shots. So I’ll do that four more times,” said Subaki. 

“Very well. If that’s the way you want to play it,” said Niles, aiming at nonchalance. But Subaki could see by his face that he was excited. There was a gleam in his eye that hadn’t been there previously. 

Subaki plucked up another arrow. The sooner he completed the four perfect shots, the better.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt here:  
> http://fe-kink-meme.tumblr.com/post/171011234962/kind-of-nilessubaki-subaki-upgrades-to-kinshi


End file.
